Since we will have our car should we drive or use Disney transportation to get around

[Boundfordisneysoon]

We are staying on property

 

[Keacc]

Since you are staying on property, parking is free at all parks. If you are staying at a monorail resort, use that for EPCOT and MK. I would drive every where else. If you have to use any of the other WDW transportation you better be prepared to wait and be very crowded. It is much faster to drive.

 

[Boundfordisneysoon]

Since you are staying on property, parking is free at all parks. If you are staying at a monorail resort, use that for EPCOT and MK. I would drive every where else. If you have to use any of the other WDW transportation you better be prepared to wait and be very crowded. It is much faster to drive.

We are at all star music

 

[DisneyRegulars]

It depends on the resort you are staying at and the park you want to go to. If you are not staying at any of the resort hotels (Poly, CR, GF, BWV,BCV,Yatch Club, Swan, Dolphin), I would recommend driving everywhere but the Magic Kingdom. We always have a rental car and find that it is typically faster to get to any park by car with the exception of the Magic Kingdom. Animal Kingdom, the water parks, and Hollywood Studios would be towards the top of my list of drive to parks because their parking lots are smaller and you can usually walk to the gate faster than taking the parking tram. (We always race the parking tram, we have never lost the race) I would skip driving to the Magic Kingdom because you have to park all the way at the Ticket and Transportation Center, and then take a boat or monorail to the park entrance. If you take the buses you get dropped off right at the park entrance.

 

[Boundfordisneysoon]

It depends on the resort you are staying at and the park you want to go to. If you are not staying at any of the resort hotels (Poly, CR, GF, BWV,BCV,Yatch Club, Swan, Dolphin), I would recommend driving everywhere but the Magic Kingdom. We always have a rental car and find that it is typically faster to get to any park by car with the exception of the Magic Kingdom. Animal Kingdom, the water parks, and Hollywood Studios would be towards the top of my list of drive to parks because their parking lots are smaller and you can usually walk to the gate faster than taking the parking tram. (We always race the parking tram, we have never lost the race) I would skip driving to the Magic Kingdom because you have to park all the way at the Ticket and Transportation Center, and then take a boat or monorail to the park entrance. If you take the buses you get dropped off right at the park entrance.

We will be at all star music resort

 

[mom2AidanAndEli]

You're going to find a complete split on this question! Some people like to drive, some like Disney transportation. It's really going to be a matter of preference.

For me, we have never rented a car and don't plan on it any time soon. Personally, I love leaving all the driving to Disney! I absolutely love sitting back on a bus and not worrying about a thing. And contrary to some people's experiences, we've never had long waits or any trouble at all just relying on Disney services. So, for me, it's just one less thing to think about on vacation!

 

[kay1864]

Definitely take bus to Magic Kingdom, it's faster.

 

[OhMari]

For the MK use the bus.
We had our rental last April and I loved it. We got to our destination within minutes.
I missed my turnoff once and I just looped around and found my way to Disney Studiios. Disney has great signs.

Plus if you want to leave the grounds to go to the grocery store or a drugstore Celebration just built a new Publix and a CVS and Walgreens. It only takes 5 minutes if the light is green.

 

[wdwjeffc37]

It depends on the way you and your family travels. I like to get to Disney, park the car and not have to get back in it until it is time to leave. I like to let Disney do the driving. I also find it less hassle to take a midday break and go back to the resort using the busses. Sometimes you may have to wait and the busses are crowded but I have met some of the nicest people of the Disney bus. I like to visit with folks from all over and find out about their trip. It is a personal choice. Since you have your car there and parking is free, try it one day and see if it is for you. I will suggest that you take the bus when going the the MK because of the ferry boat/monorail leg of the trip from the parking lot can take a while. The resort busses drop you pretty close to the front gate. Either way, have a great trip!

 

[DreamSweetsLove]

Personally I prefer using the car rather than waiting for the crowded bus/monorail etc. at the end of the day and it's also a faster way of moving around during the day if you are park hopping. Other people might not feel like driving at the end of a long day of the parks and find using transportation like the boats and monorail more fun. It really depends on your preference.

 

[OKW Lover]

Although some people prefer to take Disney transportation, we find driving to work better for us with one exception. The exception is when going to the MK. In that case we take the bus since they drop you off right by the entrance. If you were to drive to the MK you'd park at the TTC and need to take the tram to the boat/monorail in order to get over to the MK.

 

[Simba77]

Don't forget that if you're parking in the parking lots, you can still have a long hike to get to the park entrance, or you have to take a tram from the lot to the entrance. This defeats some of the self-driving advantage.

And for MK, you have to take transportation (water ferry or monorail) from the parking lot to the entrance, so that again nearly defeats the entire purpose of driving yourself.

Personally I would hate to drive and park myself. It seems like unnecessary extra "work." The beauty of Disney, for me, is that you're not forced to do "real world" things yourself. Driving and parking in parking lots are "real world" hassles to me. I do them every day. It's not fun. Worrying about traffic, finding a parking spot... things I'd rather not deal with. Let me hop on the bus, sit back and relax, then magically arrive at the park without a care (where did we park? will there be traffic? Will the hotel lot be packed and we'll have to park farther away from our building?)

The only negatives about the buses is that occasionally the bus stops are full and you have only standing room left on the bus (this is usually only after park closing). Standing for 20+ minutes on the bus at the end of a long day is horrible. If a bus is standing room only you could always wait for the next one, but that does mean you'll have to wait a little.

But ultimately I prefer having Disney take care of me, not having to "think": where I'm going, what turns to take, writing down where I parked the car, waiting for traffic, paying attention to the road, being a diligent driver in traffic. And if you want to take a mid day break, you have to pile into a hot car, wait for the AC to kick in... then go through that same process when you want to go back to the parks.

Just let me get on the bus. Let them take me there.

Point being is that it's not always cut and dry about which is "better." If you'd rather not wait for a seat on a crowded bus, driving yourself might be for you. And you might get to some parks a little quicker by not having to wait for a bus. But the mental rest of not having to drive, park, drive, park, etc is worth a few extra minutes of waiting for me. Being mentally fatigued is just as bad as being physically fatigued, and driving at the end of a long, tiring day isn't fun when you'd rather get on the bus, let them turn off the lights, and lean back and close your eyes while they take care of you.

 

[Simba77]

it's also a faster way of moving around during the day if you are park hopping.

That's not necessarily the case if the MK is involved (coming or going), since you have to take the monorail or a ferry if you park at MK. And especially if you're going to Epcot from MK (or vice-versa), the monorail is much faster than driving and parking yourself. And so much more convenient.

And keep in mind that the parks have hopper buses. There's a bus between Epcot/DHS, AK/DHS, and AK/Epcot. For MK/Epcot there's only the monorail.

Park hopping, in my experience, has always been pretty easy via the park-to-park buses, but I'll admit that I haven't done a ton of that. My park hopping is usually one park in the morning, back to the hotel for a break, then to a different park for the evening.

 

[nugov2]

Drive. Valet at CR and walk to MK. Much faster than the monorail. We were going to take the monorail back from MK for fun one day and it was a 20 minute wait. No thanks!! You are there in minutes walking. I actually would valet at the resort closest to the park you are going to everyday and walk. Have fun

 

[ImagineerTHAT]

My favorite transportation is around MK. I would drive to TTC and then take the monorail on the MK loop and the ferry boats back. Part of the experience in WDW is the transportation!

 

[Simba77]

Drive. Valet at CR and walk to MK. Much faster than the monorail. We were going to take the monorail back from MK for fun one day and it was a 20 minute wait. No thanks!! You are there in minutes walking. I actually would valet at the resort closest to the park you are going to everyday and walk. Have fun

Valet = $15/day. Just to point that out. For some, that's a significant factor. Not to mention it is suggested you tip ($1-$2). Some even say that you should tip both the person who takes your car and the one who retrieves it.

And when you drive up to a resort, they'll ask you at the gate why you're there, and you're going to have to lie. Because "I'm going to the Magic Kingdom" isn't going to get you access to the parking lot. So you have to lie and say you're just checking out the hotel, or that you have dining reservations, or that you're staying there. And if they decide to check and see if you actually do have reservations and/or if you actually are staying there, you're stuck.

So basically, to use Contemporary as a MK parking lot, you have to 1) Pay $15+$1, and 2) lie.

Unless I missed something. I could be wrong.

Also, the walk from Contemporary to MK is not short. I'm not exactly sure of the location of the valet pickup/drop, but it's probably a 10 minute walk.

 

[buzznina]

We always have our car and after the first few trips, rarely see it until it is time to go home. There were times it would have saved us time and there were times we arrived faster by bus. If you plan on leaving the parks right at closing, then I would suggest driving because that is when the crowds are horrible. We do not leave at that time, if we are staying til the end we will do a little shopping or sit and have a snack while watching the hoard of people rushing by

 

[calablovedisney]

Just another vote for using your car. We don't mind going to the TTC since my kids love the monorail and it gives them a chance to ride it. Also, we like to eat at some resort restaurants and then it is easier to get there by car. For example we like to eat at Bomas at AKL and Ohanas at the Poly. After dinner we sometimes take the monorail over to MK and leave our car at the Poly.

But, I do understand that people love the buses. Since it is usually a crowded time when we go the buses get very crowded as well, but you will have a great time whatever you do.

oh, another thing we like to do when we have a car is we stop at the Hess station and get a case of water so we can bring waters to the parks. And for future reference if you use AAA to make your trip plans you get a AAA diamond parking pass which allows you to park closer to the entrance. It is usually behind the handicap. You still have to walk a bit, but we don't need to take the tram if we get in to the diamond area.

 

[nugov2]

Valet = $15/day. Just to point that out. For some, that's a significant factor. Not to mention it is suggested you tip ($1-$2). Some even say that you should tip both the person who takes your car and the one who retrieves it.

And when you drive up to a resort, they'll ask you at the gate why you're there, and you're going to have to lie. Because "I'm going to the Magic Kingdom" isn't going to get you access to the parking lot. So you have to lie and say you're just checking out the hotel, or that you have dining reservations, or that you're staying there. And if they decide to check and see if you actually do have reservations and/or if you actually are staying there, you're stuck.

So basically, to use Contemporary as a MK parking lot, you have to 1) Pay $15+$1, and 2) lie.

Unless I missed something. I could be wrong.

Also, the walk from Contemporary to MK is not short. I'm not exactly sure of the location of the valet pickup/drop, but it's probably a 10 minute walk.

No the money wasn't a factor for us. I'd rather have the convenience, but that is a valid point for some to consider.

I actually called the valet stand and asked if you could park there and walk to the MK. I wanted to be sure before we drove there. They told me yes, but to say you are there to dine to get in, but then you are free to come and go from the park as much as you like. So yes, you are lying to the gate person, but we were up front with valet. I am sure some will be against it. And that is OK. Since they were ok with and suggested it, we were ok with it. I guess you have to decide if that is something you want to do. When we got there I told the valet we were going to MK...when we left for midday break we told them and when we returned later we had the valet ticket so we didn't have to say anything to the gate attendant that time. They do not have a reservation list. They never checked. We actually used valet there 3 times once b/c of our Chef Mickey resie and they never looked.

The walk from MK is about 5 minutes further than where you catch the busses/monorail. I personally would rather walk 5 minutes than stand in line waiting to catch a bus/monorail, but that is going to vary by person.

 

[KimK2006]

We drive to all parks except MK. We find it is SO much quicker and more convenient than taking the bus! (When you are leaving the park at closing time, you can wait an hour or more in line for a bus!)